House Appropriations committee approves budget amendment adding Pay Act H 950, adult ed changes and technical fixes

The House Appropriations Committee approved a package of budget amendments on March 26, 2026, advancing changes that add Pay Act H 950 to the budget, incorporate four adult-education sections with a contingency tied to Act 73, correct an AHEC appropriation placement and a coding error, and adjust legislative-branch funding totals. The roll call recorded 16 "yes" responses and no recorded opposing votes.

Grady Nixon, fiscal staff, told the committee the packet mostly reflected items members had already reviewed and that the first technical change "would be amending the legend section of the bill just to reflect ... adding the pay act H 950 into this bill." He said the amendment redesignates the effective-date section (from F100 to G100) and inserts ten sections of the pay act that run through page 29.

Nixon also described a placement correction in section B301 that "moves $251,000 general funds and increases federal funds by $348,000 for the global commitment appropriation in P311," which he characterized as correcting the appropriation placement rather than adding new money. He flagged a separate coding fix in B316, saying, "we placed $71,000 in grants, and it should have been personal services," and emphasized the change does not alter the total amount appropriated.

Committee members questioned the pay-act salary schedule and the presentation's three-column layout showing two increases over a 12-month period. A committee member asked for clarification on timing and cost implications, noting members and the public might wonder why the increases were split. The chair and presenters said the split reflected negotiations and that legislative counsel or the administration could provide further detail.

The amendment adds four adult-education sections (E504.2–E504.4) and a new conditional subsection (E504.5). Nixon told the committee that E504.5 would be "contingently effective" only if the contingencies in Act 73 occur, aligning the adult-education language with Act 73 implementation.

A committee member read figures in the packet showing legislative-branch funding increases on page 29, stating the General Assembly would receive $914,000 for July 2027–June 2028 and $778,000 for the following fiscal year; the chair confirmed these are increases over the prior base.

With no additional amendments from the committee, the chair asked for a motion to approve the amendment package and called the roll. The recorded responses were all "yes" (16 yes votes). The chair said she would notify the speaker's office about floor order and alerted members to be prepared for possible straw polls or additional amendments on the floor.

The committee advanced the amendment to the full floor; the package includes technical corrections, the insertion of Pay Act H 950, adult-education language contingent on Act 73, and appropriation reclassifications described above.